A function of synchronous chorusing and a novel female preference shift in an anuran

Grafe, T. Ulmar

doi:10.1098/rspb.1999.0927

Cited by 67 publications

(67 citation statements)

References 25 publications

(38 reference statements)

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“…The timing relationships between males' vocalizations within a chorus can have a profound impact on mating success, comparable to that of the call acoustic structures and production rates (Schwartz 1987;Klump and Gerhardt 1992;Grafe 1999;Schwartz et al 2001). Successful males must adjust the timing of their call behavior in relation to those of other individuals in order to ameliorate the problem of call overlaps and masking interferences.…”

Section: Interval Timing Is Involved In Vocal Male-male Competitionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Male vocal competition is dynamic and strongly affected by social contexts in music frogs

et al. 2013

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Male-male vocal competition in anuran species is critical for mating success; however, it is also highly time-consuming, energetically demanding and likely to increase predation risks. Thus, we hypothesized that changes in the social context would cause male vocal competition to change in real time in order to minimize the costs and maximize the benefits of competition. To test this hypothesis, we assessed the effect of repeating playbacks of either white noise (WN) or male advertisement calls on male call production in the Emei music frog (Babina daunchina), a species in which males build mud-retuse burrows and call from within these nests. Previous studies have shown that calls produced from inside burrows are highly sexually attractive (HSA) to females while those produced outside nests are of low sexual attractiveness (LSA). Results showed that most subjects called responsively after the end of WN playbacks but before the onset of conspecific call stimuli although call numbers were similar, indicating that while males adjusted competitive patterns according to the biological significance of signals, their competitive motivation did not change. Furthermore, these data indicate that the frogs had evolved the ability of interval timing. Moreover, when the inter-stimulus interval (ISI) between playbacks was varied, the subjects preferentially competed with HSA calls when the ISI was short (\4 s) but responded equally to HSA and LSA calls if the ISI was long (C4 s), suggesting that males allocate competitive efforts depending on both the perceived sexual attractiveness of rivals and the time available for calling. Notably, approximately two-thirds of male calls occurred in response to HSA calls, a preference rate comparable to that previously found for females in phonotaxis experiments and consistent with the idea that the mechanisms underlying both the male's competitive responses to rivals and the female's preferences toward potential mates coevolved under the same selective pressure.

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Section: Interval Timing Is Involved In Vocal Male-male Competitionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Male vocal competition is dynamic and strongly affected by social contexts in music frogs

et al. 2013

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“…fireflies (Buck and Buck, 1966;Lloyd, 1973); fiddler crabs (Backwell et al, 1998); anurans (Wells, 1988;Tuttle and Ryan, 1982;Grafe, 1996;Grafe, 1999;Greenfield and Rand, 2000); orthopterans (Walker, 1969;Sismondo, 1990;Greenfield and Roizen, 1993;Snedden and Greenfield, 1998;Hartbauer et al, 2005) and spiders (Kotiaho et al, 2004). Adaptive explanations for the evolution of synchrony, such as predator avoidance, increased attraction of mates, or the preservation of speciesspecific signal patterns have found little empirical support (but see Kotiaho et al, 2004), so that synchrony and alternation are more often considered an epiphenomenon resulting from male-male competition in choruses (Greenfield et al, 1997).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neuroethology of female preference in the synchronously singing bushcricket Mecopoda elongata (Tettigoniidae; Orthoptera): why do followers call at all?

Fertschai

Stradner

Römer

2007

Journal of Experimental Biology

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SUMMARY Imperfect synchrony between male calls occurs in the acoustically interacting bushcricket Mecopoda elongata, and males establishing the temporal leadership attract more females in choice experiments. An asymmetrical representation of leader and follower signals in pairs of direction-selective neurons of the auditory pathway was suggested to represent the neural basis for the preference of females. We investigated the time–intensity trading effect, which occurs when the temporal advantage of the leader signal is compensated, and can be reversed, by an additional sound pressure level of the follower. In behavioural arena trials the intensity trading of the preference of females for leader signals depends on the playback level; a higher sound pressure level (SPL) is needed for compensation at higher playback levels. We studied the simultaneous neuronal representation of leader and follower signals, and the time–intensity trading function in the pair of omega-neurons in the CNS. Consistent with the behavioural data, the representation of leader and follower signals can be reversed with an additional loudness of the follower, and the steepness of the trading function depends on the playback level. We also implemented data on the neuronal representation of synchronized signals in individual receivers into computer-based agents, which performed phonotaxis in a virtual sound field. Results of these simulations closely resemble those obtained from real females with respect to the overall preference under the various time–intensity trading conditions. Furthermore, in combination with the observed trading functions these simulations demonstrate, that under more realistic field conditions the ultimate success of followers in attracting females is much higher than suggested from arena trials. We discuss the evolutionary consequences for male calling strategies in synchronously calling Orthoptera.

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“…So far, acoustic synchronous courtship signalling has been documented in anurans (Wells 1977;Tuttle & Ryan 1982;Grafe 1999;Greenfield & Rand 2000) and orthopterans (Walker 1969;Alexander 1975;Sismondo 1990;Greenfield & Roizen 1993;Snedden & Greenfield 1998).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adaptive significance of synchronous chorusing in an acoustically signalling wolf spider

Kotiaho

Alatalo

Mappes

et al. 2004

Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B

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Synchronous sexual signalling is a behavioural phenomenon that has received considerable theoretical interest, but surprisingly few empirical tests have been conducted. Here, we present a set of experiments designed to determine (i) whether the sexual signalling of the drumming wolf spider Hygrolycosa rubrofasciata is synchronous, and (ii) whether the synchrony may have evolved through female preference. Using controlled playback experiments, we found that males actively synchronized their drumming bouts with other males and females significantly preferred closely synchronized drumming clusters compared with loose clusters. In loose clusters, the first drumming signals attracted the most female responses, whereas in close clusters, the last drumming signals were the most heeded. We suggest that this female preference for the last drummer can maintain male synchronous signalling in H. rubrofasciata.

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A function of synchronous chorusing and a novel female preference shift in an anuran

Cited by 67 publications

References 25 publications

Male vocal competition is dynamic and strongly affected by social contexts in music frogs

Male vocal competition is dynamic and strongly affected by social contexts in music frogs

Neuroethology of female preference in the synchronously singing bushcricket Mecopoda elongata (Tettigoniidae; Orthoptera): why do followers call at all?

Adaptive significance of synchronous chorusing in an acoustically signalling wolf spider

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